What is an explainer video? The 101!

An explainer video explains: a product or concept, the problem it is trying to solve, the benefits you will get, how the product works, the features, the CTA and more! It can have various ‘types’ and ‘styles’ and you can use more than 1 solution to make your explainer video.

Let’s understand in detail what an explainer video does.

What is the purpose of an explainer video?

#1 – Explain the number one BURNING PROBLEM or a set of problems, that your product will solve.

Headspace captured the burning problem of sleep so well, they now have millions of paying customers. Lack of sleep is a ‘burning’ problem and 25% of Americans suffer from acute insomnia.

They are unable to fall asleep, no matter what they try (something always keeps them awake). Even if they manage to sleep, they wake up every now and then (sometimes just to check the time!). And finally, when the alarm goes off, they wake up tired and lifeless without the energy to face the day.

Through a series of explainer videos, Headspace was able to show these typical pains and win their audiences’ confidence. They were so successful that some people improved their sleep by just watching their explainer videos!

When you make your explainer video, your audience should think:

“This is my story! That character, those situations, those pains, those desires are all mine. That’s what I go through every single day!It’s like the people who made the video were reading my mind!”

Takeaway #1 – An explainer video (a good one) captures burning, emotional problems or strong desires for which the audience needs a solution.

#2 – Explain the UNIQUE SOLUTION your product has to offer

A whiteboard explainer video positioned Dropbox as a solution so well, it helped to get 10% extra conversions, estimated at $48,000,000!

Back in 2007, sharing and maintaining the same files across devices like your desktop, laptop and mobile was a nightmare. Dropbox came as a ‘one-of-a-kind’ solution automatically synchronizing files across all devices.

The Dropbox explainer video explained the radical and fresh solution with great effect.

Takeaway #2 – A great explainer video projects the product as the best solution for the problem at hand!

#3 – Explain the BENEFITS your customers can get

After the DollarShaveClub video launch, the next 2 days were a disaster for the team! The video was so viral, it brought down their website. Every razor in their inventory was sold in the first 6 hours!

And why not? The video highlighted the benefitsso well (with a lot of humor), the audience didn’t want to miss out!

A simple line like, “For a dollar a month we send high-quality razors right to your door” summed up the benefits. Every man who saw the video was thinking, “Why should I go out and spend so much on branded razors when I can get affordable and high-quality razors delivered to me?”

#4 – Explain the differentiating FEATURES of your product

The Crazy Egg explainer video showcased the features so well, it was able to generate an additional $21000 incomeevery month!

Let’s say your product is a smashing SEO tool that can help rank websites and blog posts on the 1st page of Google. And you have a feature, a simple blog post scanner that reads your blog post line by line and gives a dashboard with the SEO issues and solutions.

And your market research says that your customers may ask, “What will I get if I buy it?”. To answer this, your explainer video can show a cool feature like the blog post scanner to satisfy your audience.

Takeaway #4 – A well-planned explainer video includes features that stand out and can create a ‘wow’ feeling. It doesn’t harp on the features alone. It also presents irresistible benefits that the user can get if they use those features!

#5 – Explain the CTA (call-to-action) your customers should take

When Dropbox was still in beta, the founder released a demo explainer video with an extremely simple CTA. But it was powerful enough to grow the waiting list from 5000 to 70000 overnight!

Ask yourself, “What should the viewer do after she watches your explainer video?”. Sign-up for the free trial, subscribe to the email list or buy your product? That will be the CTA you have to present in the most convincing manner.

But even a great CTA will fail if your product and video content don’t excite the viewer.

Takeaway #5 – A good explainer video has a CTA the viewer cannot resist but it has to be backed with a strong product, offer and content!

#6 – EXPLAIN any topic in an easy and engaging way

Screenshot of the MinutePhysics Youtube channel

The ‘MinutePhysics’ YouTube channel has managed to pull 4.9 million subscribers by explaining physics topics ranging from simple to complex! Their explainer videos are very simple hand-drawn images on a whiteboard. But the topics are presented in such a crisp and engaging way, that viewers keep coming for more!

Whether you are in academics explaining a history chapter or making an electric toothbrush, you can use an explainer video to describe the topic in an engaging manner!

Takeaway #6 – An explainer video breaks down a topic into a story that educates and entertains!

Now what explainer videos do, let’s dig into the history to find out how it’s trend started!

History and trend

That 1954 Singer commercial was one of the oldest explainer videos! After all, a commercial can also an explainer video, right? In this case, you would have noticed how beautifully it explained the benefits of the new Singer machine.

But the term ‘explainer videos’ didn’t come into existence until these 3 events.

Event #1 – In 2007, Commoncraft had their ‘light bulb’ moment when they wanted to convert their blog post into a video. They used hand-drawn paper cut-outs and used stop motion to film the video. And it was a massive hit!

Event #2 – They made another one for Dropbox and it was a viral hit, generating a wave of interest, leads, and revenue.

Event #3 – Groupon made another explainer video using 2D animation and that made record-breaking sales!

These short and crisp animated videos ‘explained’ the product while promoting it. The business world was taken by a storm and everyone wanted to make an ‘explainer video’. A trend was started which is still going strong!

With this legacy, short animated promos were called ‘explainer videos’. But there is no ‘holy text’ to say what type your explainer video should be.

FidoDido in 2020 – Tribute to my favorite character

It can be short and concise (like a typical promo) or it can even be a detailed demo! This article on Forbes correctly puts it. A ‘short promo’ is a ‘type’ whereas a ‘whiteboard’ is a ‘style’ of explainer video. We will see all types and styles in some time.

How good is learning without seeing some stunning examples? Let’s dig in to see some finely crafted explainer videos.

5 Stunning Explainer Videos

These are the BEST examples of explainer videos ever! If you ever make a list, DO NOT miss them. They explain, engage and entertain without being over-promotional!

Dollar Shave Club

Shout out to all start-ups; You should idolize this video! The founder Michael Dubin, put 5000 dollars to make this (turned out to be the best investment). He wrote a fabulous script, cast himself and drove viewers nuts!

It is about 90 seconds long but hilarious from start to finish! Face-crashing through a paper barrier, a toddler shaving her dad’s head, using a sword to cut a duct-tape, the fun never ends!

In all the hilarity, it never loses the grip on its primary purpose of ‘explaining’ everything about the product.

If this was hilarious, the next one has classy animation.

Crazy Egg

Every expert will say, “Use the first 5 seconds of the explainer video to grab eye-balls”! And that’s precisely what this ‘Crazy Egg’ explainer video does. In fact, in the first 4 seconds itself it highlights the #1 problem users face and makes you visualize the product.

The video is a bit longer (2 min, 38 secs) but doesn’t disappoint! With an energetic voiceover and top-class animation, you won’t take your eyes off!

It showcases benefits and also clarifies a few queries which may crop in your head. You also see the logos of companies that are happily using the product. If that can’t give your trust level a booster shot, what will?

A truly engaging and entertaining video.

The next video is the one that started the trend and set the ball rolling!

Dropbox

The makers used real paper cut-outs, cameras and stop motion to make this a classic video. It’s a bit over 2 minutes but never fails to engage!

As Dropbox had a revolutionary concept, just explaining features and benefits wouldn’t resonate with the audience. So they used a beautiful story of a backpacker exploring the African jungles. In the midst of adventure, it pitches Dropbox as a true guide and a savior of memories!

The next video proves to be a savior too but this time in a typical workplace!

Panorama 9

If you are an 80’s videogame fan, you will love this! It uses a nostalgic old-school pixelated animation style like that of Mario Bros.

At 2 minutes 41 seconds, it is the longest on this list but loaded with fun! It traces the everyday struggles of an IT helpdesk guy (a fine example of role-based targetting). It entertains you throughout but never misses a chance to explain the benefits.

The next one teases you with darkness and intrigue!

Weeds Season 8 Teaser

“Little boxes on the hillside. Little boxes made of ticky tacky.” The song sets the tone for madness!

What a brilliant idea to use a whiteboard scribble for a teaser! It builds up the tension like a bomb ticking under your chair!

Engaging animation, stunning song and the right length for a teaser (under a minute)! A Mexican standoff, a dead body, a swan carrying a smiling child and lots of such crazy visuals. Along the way, it also introduces the cast.

‘Violent, quirky and dark’. These words sum up this perfect teaser! It teases you enough without giving the plot. It just explains the mood and what to expect from the series. Superb!

You saw some great explainer videos and all had one thing in common. All of them were ‘promos’. But apart from promos, there are a few other ‘types’ of explainers.

If you are asking yourself, “Which ‘type’ of explainer video should I make?”. The short answer is – Identify the purpose!

Why are you planning to make one? Do you want to promote a new product, show how a feature works, go deep-dive or just explain a concept? Once you are clear about this, the type is a no-brainer.

If you have a hot product ready to be launched or just want to promote something, you need a promo explainer like that of Headspace. Let’s look at it.

#1 – Promo explainer (the most popular)

Sleep by Headspace promo

This Headspace video presented some vivid scenarios that every person with a sleep problem will identify! The voice and the visuals are so soothing, you may go to sleep just by seeing the video! With such compelling audio-visual, viewers are bound to take action (and they did that by subscribing to the app).

So what do you need to make a promo like that of Headspace?

It should have great visuals, informative text, startling statistics, soothing music, and an engaging voiceover. All wrapped up with a nice, super edited story, some key takeaways, and a strong call-to-action.

Next up is a ‘type of explainer video, that explains ‘How to’ do something, ‘How it works’ etc.

#2 – ‘How-to’ or ‘How it works’ explainers

‘How to’ storyboard by Crazy Egg

If you saw the Mint ‘How to’ video, notice how smartly they titled the video. The title doesn’t talk about Mint at all. Once you start playing the video, it shows how to make a budget through the ‘lens’ of the inbuilt Mint features. The idea is to make the audience remember ‘Mint’ when they think of ‘ creating a budget’.

A ‘How-to’ or ‘How-it-works’ always focuses on specific feature or a topic and explains it in an engaging way.

If you use it for product promotions, its like a level 2 promo which explains a particular aspect in detail. As a result, it nudges the audience a little further to take action.

Sometimes you need to demonstrate an entire product in action. Let’s check it out!

#3 – Demo explainer

The Dropbox MVP demo

This was the demo explainer video that brought an additional 70000 people to join the Dropbox waiting list overnight! This demo video was a straight forward but effective video showing how the product works.

Back in 2007, there was no other solution like Dropbox. To gauge audience interest and to convince them to sign-up, there was no other way than to show them a working demo. In the demo, Drew showed file synching between Mac and Windows, photosharing etc. The audience was blown away by the concept and features and showed huge support!

This 4+ minute long video is still very engaging to watch. Imagine what it did the audience who saw this unique concept back then!

It proves, if the product is awesome and never-seen-before, you have to demonstrate! Make a killer demo and let your audience do the work!

#4 – Customer reviews or testimonials

With increasing video consumption, viewers are flocking to customer testimonials.

And can it get any better? Let your customers ‘explain’ how they used your product, the scenarios, the benefits and how it has improved their business.

If you saw the Zoom testimonial, their customer describes the pain they had to collaborate with remote teams working on animation projects. With Zoom, they were able to happily work as ‘one team’ without communication barriers, inspite of their geographical distances.

Great testimonial videos are powerful tools to boost to conversions and sales!

The next one is an FAQ & QnA explainer, a great way to engage the audience and build trust.

#5 – FAQ or Q&A

Jason Vong FAQ Fridays

If you saw the FAQ Fridays’ video, you will notice how the audience takes the ‘center stage’. Jason picks up the best questions and features them along with the user profile. This is a nice way to make the audience feel special.

With FAQ videos, you also create a ‘special connect’ with your audience. And if you publish on a fixed day (e.g. Friday), it sets an expectation with the audience and they eagerly wait for it.

To make an engaging FAQ video, compile your audiences’ concerns, common questions, fun questions and provide helpful solutions. Keep the audience engaged and they will trust you and be loyal!

That completes all the types. If you find something missing, hit that comment box and tell me!

How about making your videos eye-catchy? That’s where an explainer ‘style’ comes into play. Let’s see how many are out there!

Explainer video styles – 6 primary styles

Would you fancy this pair of ‘double jeans’ as your style statement? Apparently this style was priced $695 a pair and sold out in no time!

Whether you like to go for the simple or extraordinary, a ‘style’ gives a unique appeal to your explainer video. Broadly speaking, there are 6 explainer styles to choose from and the first one to check out is Animation!

#1 – Animation

2D animated explainer video of Whatsapp

Animation is the #1 style for an explainer video!

Why? With animation, there are infinite possibilities to create any character, background, and scenario!

If you saw the Whatsapp explainer video, notice how beautifully the animation blends with the story, music, and branding (typical hues of green). Any other style would not create the same impact.

And with animation, you will never be out of choice, as there are many sub-styles to choose from! Cartoons, 2D, 3D, Whiteboard, Parallax, Motion Graphics, Stop motion and many more!

And the bonus? You don’t need to spend truckloads of money! You can make one with any a small or big budget.

Best Suited for:

Any industry (Education, Finance, IT, etc). Not great for cases where you need to show real people (retail, hospitality, etc.)

Any scenario. If you can imagine it, you can animate it!

There are some instances, where you need live-action. Let’s check it out!

#2 – Live-action

Live-action explainer of Slack

There was no better way than a live-action style for the Slack video you just saw. For such a video, you need people, real locations and the ambiance to nail it!

As an example, what if you want to show a pretty girl wearing smart black boots (your product)?

It’s a freezing cold winter morning and a pretty brunette girl steps out of her house. She is wearing a winter hat, a warm jacket, a pair of gloves, figure-hugging pants and a pair of stylish black boots.

Retail, Hospitality, Travel, etc. Any industry where other styles will not work.

The next style on the list will help you make a demo!

#3 – Screencast

A screencasting video showing a demo

Your software is on the market but people have questions. “Does it have the image stabilization feature?I can’t decide before I see that feature working”.

The best way to quash such questions is to make a great demo using ‘screencasting’. Deep-dive and open up your product to the world!

If you saw the video, you will see how effectively it demonstrates the nitty-gritty.

All you need is a great screen recorder, a mic, and editing software!

Best Suited for:

Demos, tutorials, long educational videos, etc.

Any software product, in any industry.

The next ‘style’ enables a viewer to play and interact with your video!

#4 – Interactive

The ‘Bear Grylls’ interactive video – a fun example

The ‘Bear Grylls’ video you just saw is a good attempt at simulating an interactive video.

A real interactive video on the other hand, is usually embedded on a website and needs specialized software. But you can do some really cool things with it.

“Can a viewer buy a jacket the model is wearing? Just clicking on the jacket should take the viewer to the website and show the details and pricing.” If you ever ask a similar question; with an interactive video, you can create some real ‘shoppable’ experiences like this.

Best Suited for:

Onscreen call-to-action. E.g. Shoppable videos.

Retail, Hospitality, Travel, Education, etc.

Do you prefer text but want that in a video? Then choose this next style!

#5 – Kinetic typography

If you watched this video, the words ‘Curiosity’ and ‘Creativity’ will stick to your thoughts.

That’s because along with the voiceover, important words and phrases are shown as ‘text’ with dramatic motion effects. As a result, the video is able to cleverly plant those messages in your mind.

If your aim is to highlight words, phrases, and terms, use Kinetic typography videos with ‘text’ as your primary character. And not just regular static text but one that moves, dances, entertains and drives home the message!

Best Suited for:

Cases where your priority is highlighting words and phrases.

Any industry

Want to give a new dimension to your presentations? Go for the next one on this list.

#6 – Slideshow explainer

Planning an after-lunch presentation and want your staff to stay awake? Then spice it up with slideshow explainers!

Not only presentations, but it also works well for all types, for example, a listicle video.

Simple quick videos. It is a powerful replacement for the usual presentations.

Any industry.

Pat your back! You now know what explainer videos are! But why do you need them? Why does your business need them?

Let’s see the success stories, numbers and the science behind it!

Disclaimer: This post has a few affiliate links. When you click such links and purchase a product, we will get a commission. For such a purchase you will NOT pay anything extra. Please read the affiliate disclaimer for details.

A teacher plans a ‘student-led’ educational strategy

As I write this post, a teacher is trying to present a new educational strategy using whiteboard explainer videos. Though this is not a success story yet, the teacher fully believes in the power of whiteboard videos and has already tried it in his classroom sessions. The following are his own words.

“I truly believe that the educational strategy I am presenting will be beneficial to students on every level of learning. The work involves self produced short historical documentaries that teach a clear and digestible amount of information, that would normally be given in class in notes. These notes consume 90% of the classroom time in order to cover all of the standards based material. My work allows the students to prepare for the information before class, and frees up class time for student led learning in discussions, debate, free analysis, inquiry learning, and projects. These videos and the online discussion format allow the teacher to become a facilitator in the class rather than being the “sage on the stage”. Students come away from the experience, more confident in their learning and with deeper historical skills. I want to share this with a national audience.”

These companies and individuals created killer explainer videos and reaped the benefits!

The credit, of course, goes to these awesome products, teamwork and a lot of other work that went behind the scenes. But those awesome explainer videos gave them the edge above the competition!

Now let’s see what the people say (video marketing survey) about explainer videos.

Customer’s voice – Video marketing survey 2020

96% watched an explainer video to learn more about a product!

And in 2020, an explainer video is the #1 choice for video marketing! I am not saying this, people are!

656 marketers and consumers participated in the 2020 Video Marketing survey by Wyzowl. Not just 2020, but every year, there is an exponential increase in the usage and ROI for video marketing.

This eye-catching infographic sums it all!

And let’s not stop at surveys alone! There is strong scientific backing too!

Psychological impact – Scientific proof

Whiteboard explainer videos are addictive, 66% more shareable, 33% more entertaining and able to retain information 15% better!

By theory, whiteboard explainer videos are addictive! The audience likes to watch them over and over! And why is that?

After watching a whiteboard explainer video, the brain produces a lot of dopamine (a dopamine rush!). Clara Clark, a psychology expert, said this in a podcast ‘Your Brain and animation’.

You get that rewarding feeling when you see a whiteboard video and naturally, your brain will tempt you to see it again and again! And not just theory, there’s proof too!

Richard Wiseman, an award-winning Psychology professor, did a fun experiment.

He put people into 2 distinct groups. One watched a whiteboard video and the others a talking-head video. The whiteboard group was able to remember the information better (15% better)! They found it to be 33% more entertaining and 66% more shareable!

How to make explainer videos (the process)?

Explainer video process – 10 Steps you must know!

The ‘Dabbawalas’ from Mumbai deliver tiffin boxes with 99.99 percent accuracy, which means less than 4 mistakes per a million transactions!

They don’t use any specialized pieces of equipment. They go to each home, collect tiffins full of food, carry them on bi-cycles, then on a local train, again on bi-cycles to finally deliver to offices. Then on the same day, in the late afternoons, they carry the empty tiffins back to the homes.

How are they able to manage this stunning accuracy? Through a well-tested system and a defined process!

For a stellar explainer video, you don’t need to have a ‘six-sigma’ process as the Dabbawalas, but you still need a strong one! Let’s see the process across 4 key stages!

Pre-production

This is the ‘planning’ stage where you define a ‘blueprint’ for the video. Ignoring this is like ‘shooting in the dark’.

The first question you should ask yourself is, “What do I want to achieve?“

#1 – Freeze your requirements

Poor requirements are one of the TOP 5 causes of project failures!

– Global consensus

Making a good explainer video is a project and you need to know your requirements.

Ask yourself, “What results am I expecting?” Do you want to promote a product, win new customers, demo a product or explain a chapter from chemistry?

After you have a high-level objective set, answer these questions:

What problem will your product solve? This problem should pop out in the first 5-10 secs of your video!

Who is your target audience? Your explainer video should resonate 100% with them.

Which type, style and tone do you think will suit your audience and industry?

Document all the answers as you will need them for the next step which is to write the script!

Using an analogy – What if your product is complicated or it’s a never-seen-before thing? In such a case, use a different scenario and try to co-relate it with your product. The ‘Dropbox’ explainer used a beautiful analogy of a magic pocket to store personal belongings.

Showing a user story – A personal user story works best in some cases. You can show practical, emotional day-to-day challenges a user faces, like the ‘Panorama 9’ explainer script.

If your explainer video is meant for educational purposes, apart from the above, you can follow certain principles and guidelines, summarized below:

Identify keywords and key phrases in your script that you want students to remember. During the voiceover, give added emphasis to these words and when you produce the video, annotate these words on-screen.

Address the student directly in the script to increase a sense of social partnership. For example use sentences like, “This is how you can create your own borax crystals at home!”

To make the student feel more at ease, use sentences with excitement like, “Consider how the cell solves this tricky problem of needing to regulate three genes in sequence; it’s really cool.”

So if your script is ready, are you done? No, you need a storyboard! Let’s understand it further.

#3 – Create the storyboard

A password for your email, another for your second email, one for your membership site and another 20 for everything else. How will you manage so many?

Imagine you have an email management product and those lines are from the explainer script. Those lines would be spoken by the voiceover artist. But you want to show a frustrated employee with a messy desk and messier email habits!

How will you capture these visuals, before producing the video? Yes, you can have that in your mind and write those scenes separately. But if you present that visually, it becomes easier to translate that into the actual video (you also don’t forget).

That’s where a storyboard comes into the picture! Storyboards are rough sketches of the scenes to visualize them before they are made!

A dragon from the sky, a happy child holding a balloon, a dog parachuting over the hills. Whatever your imagination, put it on a storyboard! And for a storyboard, you don’t need to be an artist, even simple stick figures like this are enough.

For each line or group of lines in your script, make storyboard slides like the above as per the required visuals.

That was planning! Now comes the fun part; producing your explainer video!

Production

It’s time to say ACTION and action for an explainer video should start with a voiceover!

#4 – Record the voiceover

Did you know that long chats on airplanes can harm your vocal cords? On higher altitudes, the humidity falls to around 12% which is as dry as the Arizona desert! That’s a warning sign for all voice over artists!

Talking about a voiceover, the audience can forgive mediocre visuals, not a bad voiceover!

That’s why the script is so important. The lines have to be spot-on so that the voiceover artist can sound like a god! A detailed voiceover script guide can be pretty handy but you can follow this quick summary:

For animated explainers, the first step is a voiceover followed by animation. This will eliminate the need to re-record voice and will give the voiceover artist the freedom to express!

For live-action, when you want to replace the actor’s voice, record the voice after the shoot.

Eliminate all grammatical errors from the script that can confuse the voice artist.

The voice artists may not understand some words, so read out the entire script for clarity.

Clarify the accent you need (American, British, Australian, etc). A ‘semi-truck’ can be pronounced ‘seh-maay-truck’ or Or ‘seh-mee-truck’ based on the accent.

Want an emphasis on specific words? Mark them in BOLD or highlight them with a different color. See below the same line with different words that are emphasized. The messaging changes completely because of the emphasis!

“Solving this problem is one of the big ideas behind Dropbox“.

“Solving this problem is one of the big ideas behind Dropbox”.

Want a specific emotion for a particular line in the script? For example, if you want an upbeat line, do this:

[Upbeat] “Solving this problem is one of the big ideas behind Dropbox”

NOTE – Many social media platforms play silent videos by default. Many audiences nowadays prefer silent videos. So along with the voiceover, plan for captions.

After the voiceover, comes the most exciting part; the visuals.

#5 – Produce the video (the visuals)

If a minute of video can create such an impact, make each minute count!

And to do that, you have many explainer styles in hand (you already know what those styles are)! Let’s see how you can make a video in each style.

Live-action

Tiefland (meaning lowlands) holds a ‘Guinness Book’ record for a film with the longest production time!It took a staggering 14 years to produce, including 4 yearsof shooting and massive delays primarily because of World War II.

Today, the production time for all videos has reduced drastically, thanks to the new-age process and tools. For your live-action explainer, the process is:

Decide if you are going to use original or stock footage.

Original footage – For this, you need people, equipment and locations. Once you start filming the sequences, shoot more footage than less. You can trim it in the final editing but if you fall short, you will have to redo a lot of things. You may need B-roll footage, so plan for it. B-roll footage are shots of secondary subjects (customers, teams, office, etc).

Stock footage – Stock footage is a ready collection of scenes like a work-place with employees, a family having a great time at the beach, etc. DIY video platforms like InVideo offer massive collections of stock footage with great video editing tools.

Create scenes that include these moving characters. Use transitions to ‘stitch together’ scenes so that the video looks seamless. Add intros (starting scene like a company name) and outros (ending scenes with credits, CTAs, etc).

Finally, you combine everything together to make a ‘whole video’ which conveys your story.

For animated explainers, you can either use pure animation or DIY video software.

Pure Animation Software

Do you need 100% custom animation for your explainer? Then use professional animation software like Adobe After Effects. It’s a good option for wannabe animators and people invest time in learning the software.

DIY video software

If you find the right one, you can learn DIY explainer software in no time. And they are affordable too! You will get a ton of ready characters and backgrounds which you can customize.

Renderforest, for example, has tons of templates for many industries, events, and occasions.

Screencasting and Slideshow

For great crowd-pulling demos like Dropbox, you need a screencasting software. A screencasting software records mouse clicks, keys presses, etc.

The process of making a screencast video is simple. Record your on-screen actions as per the script, record audio (if needed) and edit the video to make it complete! Screencasting software like Filmora Scrn offers video editing as well and is pretty affordable.

For slideshow explainers, you have a ton of choice! Every DIY software has templates for these; for example, Renderforest has 9 categories of slideshows.

Interactive

With the right process and software, you can also drive a ton of viewers! This is the typical process to make an interactive video (a simplified version):

Once you have shot your video, identify scenes where you want the viewers to interact. If you are selling skateboards, your video may feature a guy doing stunts. Identify high-octane stunts and other exciting scenes for interactivity.

Decide what ‘interaction’ you need. For example, when the skater is about to flip, give 4 options to see different flips. Or give a pop-up describing the skateboard when a viewer hovers the mouse. Along with it, give a BUY button that takes the viewer to your website.

Once ready, embed the video on your website landing page.

Making interactive videos is easier than ever with software platforms like Coolix.

After the visuals, it’s time for post-production. And the first step is music and sound!

Post-production

#6 – Add music and sound effects

Music and sound effects are the perfect allies for a video! But they have to be just right, neither overwhelming nor dispensable.

When adding music, here are a few points to note:

The sound level should never overpower the voiceover. Use the right emotion; if your voiceover has a flat tone, you can’t have dramatic music!

Use a tone that complements your brand, business, and mood of the video.

It should take the story forward and add another dimension to the video. You should not have a soundtrack just because you are making a video.

Add sound effects only if you need them! As you would know, a funny sound will not make a scene funny. If the script has humor, viewers will laugh!

Use subtle sounds to lift a scene. Let’s say your explainer is for a phone app. You have a close-up scene of a user swiping the phone. A gentle sound for a swipe will work as long as it doesn’t hijack everything else!

The next step brings the pieces together; that’s editing!

#7 – Editing and fine-tuning

Source – videoeditinginstitute.com

That huge machine in the picture was the world’s 1st editing machine invented in 1924! What a piece of machinery with a robust bare-bones model!

Editing nowadays doesn’t require such huge machines and is all digital and much more simplified.

Editing is an art to combine individual scenes into a polished video! It is both a technical and an artistic work!

Let’s say you are producing an animated explainer. Among all the scenes, you like a particular scene because it has some dramatic moments. But that scene is one of the last in your video as per the script.

You can still go ahead and produce that scene. In the end, you will have lots of such scenes that have to be arranged sequentially as the script demands.

Sequencing is one of the most important aspects of editing!

Reducing video length – After sequencing the scenes, you discover the video is too long! It is twice the length you planned! So it’s time for editing again.

Sometimes you are not just able to cut any scenes from your video. As you have made it, you think all of them are important. To review the video impartially, ask your friend, colleague or spouse to help.

They would be able to find unwanted scenes. Some may have technical glitches, some may not add any value to the story and video. Remove those scenes ruthlessly from your video. You will find that your video suddenly becomes quick and agile but it still packs powerful punches, like Mohammad Ali!

The market is loaded with great software options like Movavi that covers end to end editing.

After editing, you will fine-tune your video:

Add any special effects to live-action explainers. Let’s say you have a fantastic northern lights night shot, add an on-screen caption with graphics. Or add fun animations and smooth scene transition effects. All great editing software like Magix Movie Edit Pro has these features.

Do you want specific messages or text on-screen? Use stylish annotations.

Check and remove background noise. If your editing software doesn’t include good sound editing features, use a full-fledged software like Audacity (it’s free).

Does your live-action explainer has a fantastic shot of open green lawns and you want the greens ‘extra green’? Use ‘color grading‘ features that are available in software like Vegas Pro.

After editing, your explainer video is ready. But it needs a ‘home’ to stay. That’s where hosting comes into the picture!

#8 – Hosting

“My explainer video is ready. I will now upload it to Youtube and embed it on my website landing page”. Do you think using YouTube for hosting your explainer is a good idea? No!

To look professional, go for a video hosting platform like Vimeo or Wistia.Why?

Imagine you just hosted your explainer video on Youtube. You embed the default YouTube player to showcase your video like a HERO on your website landing page. A visitor comes to your website and starts watching your explainer video.

Just when your product is introduced, his phone rings. He pauses the video and answers the call. A few minutes later, he finishes the call. Now, on top of your video, Youtube reminds the visitor to see ‘More Videos’.

YouTube screenshot

These ‘more videos’ have extremely tempting thumbnails. A Pilot chick, free software, global air traffic, and Steve Jobs posing for a great speech! What does he do?

He chooses the pilot chick thumbnail and starts watching it. He also clicks the YouTube icon, which opens another tab and takes him straight to YouTube! He spends the next 30 minutes watching ‘pilot lessons’.

He may or may not return to your website but that moment, that opportunity is lost! With private hosting, you can avoid this and host ‘distraction-free’ videos. You also have full control of your video! It will always be there till you want to take it down.

After your video gets a nice place to settle, it’s time to spread the word and let everyone know!

#9 – Marketing & promotion

In the 1980s, advertising genius Claude Hopkins made the ‘biggest cake’ in the world, to market an ingredient called Cotosuet (replacement for butter)! He cleverly placed this enormous cake near a huge bay window of a departmental store in Chicago that was about to have a grand opening. It was a win-win for both!

When the store opened, there was a sea of people to have a glimpse of this huge cake, leading to a big traffic snarl! A whopping 105,000 people went to see it over the course of the week. Moreover, the cake was on the5th floor and elevators could not carry so many, so they climbed the stairs!

The marketing was a huge success and Cotosuet made recording-breaking sales! Whether it’s the marketing of food products or explainer videos, the principles remain the same. You have to tell the world about your explainer video in ways no one has done before!

These are a few tips you should use irrespective of your marketing strategy.

Showcase it on your website landing page. The first thing anyone sees on your website should be your video!

Add the video link to your social media profile page with a great description of it.

Pick a product benefit or a feature and make a social media post on it. Link the video to this post, so viewers can see everything the product has to offer.

Add the video link to your email signature.

Follow basic SEO techniques to rank on search engines and YouTube. Some of these are to put the right titles and descriptions (with keywords), add catchy thumbnails, etc.

Ask all your pals, business associates, influencers to link to your explainer video if it fits their content.

Once you market it well and people are engaged, it’s time to test the engagement and improve it!

#10 – Test and improve

In 17th-century Japan, a samurai sword of exceptional caliber was tested and it was able to cut through 7 bodies in 1 stroke! Before your head starts spinning, let me tell you, these dead bodies were of criminals (they were dead before the testing was conducted).

Fast forward to post World War II, Toyota, influenced by American business and quality management, developed the Kaizen model. Kaizen, a Japanese word, translates to change ‘change for better‘. It includes all activities to continually improve all business functions, products, processes, etc.

Just imagine what would happen if Kaizen was introduced before the Samurai swords were tested! I bet it would cut through an entire army!

While Kaizen is generally used for manufacturing, IT and other industries, you can improve your explainer videos by split testing, also known as ‘A/B testing‘.

You can try some of these ideas but always do that within budget and schedule.

Try multiple videos with different CTAs. For example, one can be a sign-up form, another can be a phone call. Usually changing this is relatively easy as you have to change only the last bits of the video.

Use analytics (like engagement stats) provided by the hosting software or social media platforms to identify possible changes for your video. If you are planning to use YouTube (who doesn’t want to?), VidIQ offers unique solutions to monitor, rank and improve engagement.

If your video is on a platform like YouTube, try experimenting with different titles, descriptions, and thumbnails.

Without sacrificing the essence and message, try with different video lengths.

You just learned the entire process of making explainer videos! If I grossly ignored something, give a shout in the comment box!

We just discussed the full technical process but something stands out and is widely discussed. That’s explainer video length! Let’s dive in to understand.

Ideal explainer video length? The big question!

Photo by Charles on Unsplash

What do statistics say?

Wistia did a staggering study of 564,710 videos and more than 1.3 billion plays, to find the ideal video length! Even if 10 persons did the study for a year, that comes to 155 videos per person per day. And the number of plays per person; that’s very difficult to calculate!

You can definitely take guidance from this massive, painstaking work! The below graph sums up the study.

What are the key highlights?

Videos less than 2 minutes – The audience absolutely loved such videos. If your videos are this length, you can expect great audience engagement.

Between 2 and 3 minutes – The engagement sees a big drop.

Between 6 to 12 minutes – The engagement is pretty stable, which means the audience liked the videos.

Over 12 minutes – The engagement sees a steady decline, which means the audience was losing interest.

Google also conducted a video length study but they analyzed viewer responses to the same ad that had different lengths.This is what they found!

Why should you choose a video agency?

Let’s look at the success of Dropbox to know the reasons.

Reason #1 – Brand image and reputation are critical

During beta testing, Drew himself made a screencast video that drove 70000 subscribers overnight! For the actual product launch, he planned a landing page with only 2 things; an explainer video and a download button!

It was very easy for him to say “I made one video that got me, 70,000 subscribers overnight, let me make another one for the launch”. But there was a lot at stake; of all, establishing it as a brand and reputation were absolutely unavoidable! He decided to seek professional help for the video and the decision was spot on!

The agency did a perfect job of explaining a ground-breaking concept, getting the results (sales and revenue) and making Dropbox memorable. Even today, when you search ‘explainer video’, every website will refer to this popular video! And whenever you ask anyone about a file-sharing solution, Dropbox always tops the list!

Reason #2 – Explaining a product can be difficult

The concept of Dropbox was difficult to explain. The video agency (CommonCraft) thought the best way was to weave-in Dropbox into an engaging story and present it as the only solution.

They used some very interesting elements to hook the audience; An analogy of a magic box to store files and a beautiful story of a backpacker on an adventure to Africa! As the story unfolds, Dropbox is presented as a savior of memories, every step of the way.

The story worked and the audience was dying to get their hands on a paid subscription!

Takeaway #2 – Your explainer video should explain the concept so effectively, even a 5-year old can understand!

Reason #3 – You need a crowd-puller (a novel idea)

Although Dropbox didn’t have many competitors, the difficult concept had to be presented in a novel and unique way. The agency produced a ‘first-of-its-kind’ cut-out whiteboard video, mixed with animation and live-action. The audience went crazy and lapped it up!

Takeaway #3 – Your video should have a ‘novelty’ factor to make it stand-out in the competition!

Reason #4 – No time to make a video

The founder was dabbling with many things on his plate for the perfect launch! Making the best version of Dropbox, managing this team, meeting investors for finance, planning growth strategies, managing the existing beta subscribers and much more.

Would it be a wise decision to make an explainer video all by himself or his team? Absolutely not! He had the money for marketing, so he gave the job to professionals who could do a better job, while he managed his launch.

By the time he was ready with the product launch, the explainer video was ready to break the internet!

Takeaway #4 – During the launch, you should spend time towards business-critical activities than making an explainer video yourself.

Reason #5 – A great video can give a big ROI (return on investment)

Before making the explainer video, Drew spent a lot of money on paid search (that as 2009) which translated to $300 per customer whereas the selling price was $99! This obviously made no business sense, so he started looking at other viable and effective options.

As he had realized the power of video and he also had the budget, he found a great agency to make this video. He spent approx $50000 (it was quite expensive back then) to get the entire video campaign ready. The rest is history, as the ROI was 959%!

Takeaway #5 – A professionally made explainer video can prove to be the best investment for promoting a new product!

For an existing product, let’s look at the Crazy Egg success story.

Reason #6 – Powerfully present an existing product

Many A-list customers were already using Crazy Egg but the founder (Neil Patel) wanted to increase conversions without impact existing customers. He wanted more people to understand the product, clarify their concerns and get them to subscribe for the trial.

The video agency (Demo Duck) not just met the expectations but also set the highest production and branding standards! The Crazy Egg video is another explainer video that is revered for its ability to entertain, explain, clarify and boost conversions, all at the same time!

Takeaway #6 – Seek professional help if you need to accurately present an existing product and boost conversions.

PROs and CONs of hiring a video agency

Hire a freelancer

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

When should you choose a video freelancer?

If you don’t have a marketing budget and you need fully customized explainer videos, you should choose a freelancer (in the below scenarios).

You are ready to trade-off time to review and guide the freelancer through the course of the entire video production.

Incase the freelancer doesn’t deliver an end-to-end video, you are ready to get the remaining work done. This can be script writing, voiceover, editing, music, etc.

Reason #1 – Benefits of a video agency at a low price of a freelancer

If you find the right freelancer, you can get a great explainer video for as low as 10% of an agency quotation! Freelancer marketplaces are buzzing with talent with some like Fiverr offering dedicated pages for explainer videos!

Takeaway #1 – Find a great freelancer and you don’t need to find an agency to get a great quality video at an affordable price.

Reason #2 – You want videos regularly but don’t want to make them youself

What if you want to make 5 explainer videos every month but you don’t want to make them yourself? You can’t employ an agency as you will need a truckload of money.

The best option is to find a great freelancer and establish a long term partnership to make videos for you.

Takeaway #2 – Use a freelancer to get explainer videos in bulk (in cases where you don’t want to invest your time and energy).

PROs and CONs of hiring a video freelancer

Use video software (make videos yourself)

Photo by Joseph Pearson on Unsplash

When should you choose a video software?

If you want to make explainer videos regularly and you are ready to learn using the software, you should go for video software (in the below scenarios).

You are ready to invest time and energy to learn the software (most video software are easy but you still need to learn them).

You are ready to work on the entire productionprocess including be script writing, voiceover, editing, music, etc.

You want full control over your videos and want to be involved in each and every aspect.

Typical users of video software are bloggers, business owners (travel, restaurants, real estate, educator etc), marketing teams, freelancers, agencies, animators, and anyone who would like to make videos on their own.

Reason #1 – You want an affordable option

He was blown away by a hybrid whiteboard, motion graphics and 2D animated video by Ray Dalio. When he enquired with the creators, he was further blown away by the price of $80000! He obviously didn’t have that kind of budget, so he found a whiteboard animation software like Videoscribe. The software would have cost him about $100 per year (0.1% compared to the Ray Dalio video).

While his video didn’t have high animation standards (comparable to Ray Dalio video), it was good enough to strike a chord with the students! And he got the results which he expected!

Takeaway #1 – Explainer video software is one of the most affordable options.

Reason #2 – You want to make them yourself (even if you have a company)

It is clear that this company wanted to own the end-to-end process of the video. After spending time learning, with teamwork and outsourcing (voiceover), they were able to make a great explainer video using DIY video software.

Takeaway #2 – If you own a company, work for one or you are a single-person entrepreneur, a video software can help you take full control of the process and output!

Let’s say you a blogger working on a massive post that you want to publish but you are already behind schedule. After you publish the post, to promote it, you want a simple explainer video that summarizes the key points.

Luckily, you have learned a DIY video software and you are confident that you can make a video the same day and share it with your followers. You don’t have to wait for an agency or a freelancer for weeks. You can do it any time of the day without hassles.

Takeaway #3 – With video software, you have the convenience of making a video anytime with 24/7 access.

Reason #4 – You want many videos (example: 1 video per day)

What if you want 10-20 videos per month? You cannot go to an agency or choose a freelancer. The only choice is a good DIY video software! With so many templates and features, it is even possible to make 1 video every day!

These are some example scenarios in which you need a lot of videos!

You have a real estate business and every day you get tens if not hundreds of property deals. Even if you don’t plan to make a video for every property, what about those premium deals like an uber penthouse with a pool and jacuzzi? With video software, you create a dazzling video that can spark excitement and eagerness in a potential buyer.

What if you have a restaurant? Make a video of that new dessert, the delicious blueberry cheesecake, and send it to your followers or show it off on the LED screens in your restaurant.

If you are a teacher and you have 20 complex biology topics to teach, a simple DIY software will help you produce 20 videos in a short amount of time!

Takeaway #4 – Video software allows you to scale your video production (even making 1 video per day is possible).

PROs and CONs of DIY explainer video software

How much do explainer videos cost?

Let’s explore the pricing by category.

How much do agencies charge?

Agencies can charge anywhere from $1000 to $200,000! The price depends on many factors and among them, video length, style, and deadline are the most common.

Here are some of the top agencies’ approx pricing. Use these price ranges only for reference! Agencies will always give you a custom quote. It is always better to directly reach out to them for a great deal!

Pure animation software is a bit expensive starting at approx $200. But it usually is a one-time payment license. See this example of Cartoon Animator 4.

27 Best Video Agencies

If you hire a video agency, doesn’t it make sense to meet them in person? Discuss requirements face to face or drop in to review progress? Even if you can’t meet them, you should be able to talk to them on the phone.

So choosing an agency in your timezone will really help.

These are the best video agencies as per geographies (no specific criteria to rank this list). I am also highlighting on the specialty or differentiation factor. For full details of their services, you should visit their website.

NOTE – Most of the agencies work across timezones and have offices around the globe. It’s best to check with them directly for services in your country.

Wyzowlhas unique offerings in their portfolio like micro-interactions (small bits of animation), testimonials, etc. It enjoys a very good reputation in the video industry because of a valuable video marketing survey it conducts every year.

If you are not able to decide a style, Yans Media can help you with their unique production process. They offer several ‘Mood Boards’ that showcase different styles so you can choose something that perfectly aligns with your vision!

It does not matter which part of the world you are from. BluBlu Studios can deliver an explainer video to any corner of the world with its strong processes that adjust timezone and cultural differences.

If you are looking for an agency that specializes in the corporate world, go for Orange Videos!

Styles offered – Multi-style, Top clients – Aviva, Tata

Choose the best explainer video agency. 15 reliable tips!

Photo by Anthony Martino on Unsplash

These are a few tips to help you select the perfect video agency. Read on and select what matters to you the most!

#1 – Quality of work

Scrutinize the videos in their portfolio and look for aspects like these.

Are the visuals top-notch? Do they offer smooth, seamless animation? How good are the live-action visuals?

Do they have a variety of good quality voiceovers?

Are they able to convey the message in a short time?

Agencies should deliver 100% custom videos. If they don’t, strike them off your list!

#2 – Delivery time

In today’s competitive market, it is absolutely necessary that they deliver fast! Check if they have well-defined delivery timelines.

Ask if they have an option for express delivery. For example, agencies like Next Day Animations offer super-fast delivery services. You can get a video in 24 hours!

#3 – Process

Do they have an iron-clad video production process to give you a high-quality video? The process should cover all stages like scripting, production and post-production.

The next stage should begin only when you approve the earlier. See this example from Cognitive Media. They even have detailed videos to cover each stage!

#4 – End to end video

They should handover a 100% complete video that you can publish immediately! It should never happen that you are running to another agency or freelancer to get bits and pieces of work completed.

For example, if they asking you to get a voiceover done separately, look for another agency!

#5 – Fixed-price

It is always better to go with a fixed price upfront. You don’t want any last minute surprises that spoil your marketing budget.

#6 – Style expertise

Does the agency specialize in a style? For e.g. some may specialize in whiteboard videos.

It is not necessary to go with an agency that does every style. Just make sure they have done enough work in the style of your choice and you are good to go!

#7 – Industry expertise

Have they worked in your industry? If so, that’s good news. It will make a huge difference to the entire production process.They will be able to translate all that knowledge into making a video that resonates with your audience.

Based on the experience working with many clients, they will also be able to guide you on what works and what does not!

#8 – The volume of work

How many videos have they made? 10? 100?You should obviously favor an agency that has done a lot of work.

But always keep a fine balance between quality and quantity. Sometimes it’s wise to choose an agency that has made 10 high quality videos over a one with 100 mediocre videos!

#9 – Number of revisions

Let’s say you forgot a crucial product benefit or you don’t like the tone of the voiceover. You want to make changes. But will they accept it?

Be crystal clear on the revision policy. How many revisions are allowed and it which stages?

#10 – Responsiveness

How soon will they respond to your queries? 1 business day? 2 business days? Having clarity on this will save you from a lot of headache during the production process.

#11 – In-house team

Check if they have a full in-house team of animators, voice artists, illustrators, scriptwriters, managers, etc. This makes a lot of different to the quality and schedule.

#12 – Customer portfolio

How does their portfolio look? Do they have customers from your industry? If so, the chances of getting a video that your audience likes, are very high!

Do they have A-list customers? If they do, it means top companies have chosen them because of certain standards. You should definitely think of shortlisting them.

#13 – SPOC (Single point of contact)

You should be able to talk to an ‘X’ person, anytime, for all your queries! Dealing with many people will create confusion. An agency should give you a dedicated SPOC (single point of contact), for example a manager.

#14 – Go local

Most agencies provide global delivery and work in all the timezones. But it helps if the agency is in your country or timezone. Anytime you need an update, you can just call up! The communication becomes very simple and effective.

#15 – What is their specialty?

Do they have some unique services? For example, Epipheo has unique offerings like video whitepaper. Next Day Animations creates social media sizzlers (short 15-sec videos) and learning systems compatible videos. Each agency will have its own niche. Find the one you like!

Hire the best explainer video freelancer

If you are planning to hire a freelancer, these tips should help you find a great fit.

#1 – Keep your requirements and script ready

What do you want to achieve? What is your key message? Who is your audience and what is your CTA? Document all of this!

Write your script or hire a freelancer. Some freelancers offer script, voiceover and other services along with the video.

#2 – Record the voice-over

In most cases, the freelancer should also provide a voiceover. Even if they don’t, you can use these tips to get a voiceover recorded separately.

#7 – Customer feedback

When reviewing customer feedback, you should obviously go for a top-rated freelancer.

Watch out for any common negative feedback (common trend) like unprofessionalism, poor communication, etc. For example, look for complaints of ‘horrible communication‘, ‘quitting the project on the last day’, ‘severe delays‘, etc.

Also, check the freelancer’s response to negative comments. Does he/she respond with flair and elegance? Is the tone professional? Or just trying to play a victim?

At the same time, some customers can be unrealistic and unfair. So always hear both sides of the story!

#8 – Communication

Your freelancer may be on a different continent; how are you going to communicate?

Check the freelancer availability to answer queries and give you updates. Is he/she flexible enough to reply at any time of the day? Will you communicate via chat, video call, etc?

The #1 problem with freelancers is communication (no communication, poor communication etc). If you set the expectations upfront, it will help you find the right person for the work!

#9 – Going the extra mile

Is the freelancer willing to support after the video is published? Let’s say, after testing you want to make a change to the CTA. Instead of your logo, you want the website URL.

Will the freelancer support such a request?

This check is not necessary but it will be a great test of flexibility. It will also tell you if the person is ideal for a long term working relationship!

57 super-useful explainer video software

What are Forever Free and Trial video plans?

Before we look at the massive list, let’s see what ‘free software‘ means.

Almost all of the video software has a FREE plan. Some offer a Forever Free plan and some offer a Free Trial plan. But what is the difference?

Let’s find out!

Forever free or ‘FREEMIUM’ plans

A ‘forever free’ or ‘freemium’ accounts have no time limits. You can use it forever (unless there is a change to the policy) with certain limitations.

Whether you are a beginner or have intermediate editing skills, Filmora 9 can help you with all your video editing needs. You can create some awesome live-action explainer videos using its amazing user interface.

With Da Vinci Resolve, you can combine professional 8K editing, color correction, visual effects, and audio post-production all in one software tool! Use this to edit your live-action footage into a fabulous explainer video.

Best features:

It has some nextgen features like the DaVinci Neural Engine and machine learning. You get super cool features like facial recognition, speed warp and more.

What you get in the Forever Free plan:Unlimited editing with all the basic functionalities with a watermark.

Magix Video Pro X is an editing software for professional editors. It can support videos shot in different resolutions. Even if you have shot a crystal clear 8K UHD live-action explainer video, it can help you edit it without problems!

Best features:

A multi-format timeline to make your editing blazing fast.

Want to shoot a video with a green background? The advanced color grading and chroma keying will help you to seamlessly put any background.

No more shaky videos; footage stabilization is there to help you!

Want to make your travel memorable? Create an animated travel map of all the places you visited at the click of a button!

What you get in the Free Trial:30 day trial with limited functionality. You have to download the software.

Vegas Post is a complete suite of pro-level editing and post-editing software. It includes the Vegas Pro, Vegas Effects and Vegas Image (to create images from the videos). This is a complete branding solution for your live-action explainer videos. From videos to creating posters!

Multi-style

Explaindio is the #1 explainer video software at this price range. It is a complete all-rounder package.You can make live-action, 2D and 3D animation, whiteboard, motion graphics, kinetic typography and many other styles of explainer videos!

Best features:

I have used this product. If you spend some time learning it, you can really make some cool stuff! There is a ton of customization options available!

You can import your own images, animations, videos, and vectors to customize them. For example, you can import any SVG image and make a whiteboard sketch in minutes!

It’s one of the most affordable and value for money explainer video software in the market.

What you get in the Free Trial:14 day trial with all features. Unlimited, unrestricted access to the product. You need to download the software.

NOTE – You have to use your credit card for getting the free trial. There will be no charge during the 14-day trial. At the end of the 14th day, you will be charged $67 for 1 year. Cancel anytime during the trial.

I recommend using Paypal for using your credit card. The reason? The cancellation process is much faster with Paypal.

TV Paint is a bitmap technology-based 2D animation software. Using this technology, you can animate natural renderings like watercolor, oil painting, crayon, pen, etc. If you are an animator, you can give an authentic and artistic touch to your explainer videos.

Option 3 – One-time payment

Option 4 – Pay-per-video

Do you just want 1 video and don’t want to commit to any recurring plans?

Go for pay-per-video options like Renderforest or Invideo! Just pick a template, customize and if you want a high-quality video, just pay for that video alone.

#4 – Decide your usage

Think about the quality and quantity of the videos you are going to make. Ask yourself these questions:

Are you going to make 1 video per week or 1 video per day?

Are you going to make short or long videos?

Will you make 1080p full HD videos or 780p is good enough for you?

The answers will help you compare plans and decide the best option!

#5 – Cloud-based or offline?

Do you face bad internet speeds and connectivity issues often? Or do you want to work on heavy-duty (feature-rich) editing or animation? Then you need offline software! Movavi Video Suite, Adobe After Effects, etc are some great examples.

On the other hand if you have a slow laptop or don’t want to rely on it’s performance, choose cloud-based online software. Almost all DIY software like Renderforest, Wave.video etc are fully online.

#6 – Choose NEXTGEN features

Want to convert your blog post URLs, text file or RSS feed to a video with a single click? AI-based software like Lumen 5, Rawshorts or Invideo can help you!

Time for you to take action!

Now that you read this epic explainer video guide, let me ask you: Which solution are you going to use to make your explainer video?

Are you going to hire an agency? Look for a great freelancer? Or make an explainer video all by yourself using a great software?

Best Corporate Video Production Company in Bangalore and top Explainer Video Company in Bangalore , 3d, 2d Animation Video Makers in Chennai.
An interesting post it’s really very useful for us. Thanks for sharing this wonderful post with us.

The purpose of this guide is to help readers as you learn about explainer videos, but not just learn, take action as well. That’s the reason, apart from the process, you will find all solutions to make explainer videos (DIY software, Freelancing, and Video Agencies). And each solution has a massive list of the best in this business!